Today, Ed Miliband was damaged by Cameron’s speech, but the pain is coming for the Tories

by Atul Hatwal

Judgement is a precious commodity. If a politician is seen to have it, they receive the benefit of the doubt from the media and colleagues alike. Their moves are viewed as part of a grand strategy, their competence taken on trust.

When they are seen to lose it, everything is questioned, loose threads are pulled and more often than not, much unravels.

Today, both Ed Miliband and David Cameron demonstrated desperately bad judgement. Both will pay a price. The immediate damage is to the Labour leader’s position, but over the coming months Cameron will be the one who suffers most.

For Ed Miliband, it is now a matter of when not if. When will he do a U-turn and commit Labour to an in/out referendum? The three options he has available leave him little choice.

Inside the leader’s inner circle there might have been some that still believed Labour’s current position of neither backing nor ruling out an in/out referendum was sustainable, but reality will be dawning. Witness Miliband’s own reaction in the heat of PMQs today when he seemed to rule out a referendum, only for Douglas Alexander and John Denham to walk back the commitment within hours.

Having no line to take is no way to run a party. Labour politicians trying to defend this position will be mercilessly skewered.

Alternately, permanently ruling out a referendum, as Miliband looked to have done, has the merit of certainty, but brings the certainty of unpopularity. Refusing to let the public have a say on such a contentious issue hardly locates Labour on the side of the people.

Which leaves supporting an in/out referendum as the only viable option.

For David Cameron, the headlines and immediate reviews make for happy reading. Tactically he has wrong-footed Labour and the Tories give the impression of unity. But this will not last.

At PMQs Cameron pointedly refused to define any red lines for his negotiations with the EU, not saying what would prompt him to vote to leave the European Union. Just as Labour refusing to take a position on a referendum is unsustainable for the next two years, so is Cameron’s current stance.

This will be made very clear to the Tory leadership over the coming weeks. Rather than be pacified by the referendum pledge, the eurosceptic rebels on the Tory backbenches will be emboldened. As sure as night follows day, their next step will be to harry Cameron until he is forced to give greater detail on his criteria for exit.

For those of us who recall the early to mid nineties, there is more than a touch of deja vu to today’s events.

There were many times John Major would shift to the right on Europe and be hailed on the day by his right-wing. Remember the opt-out he secured on the social chapter twenty odd years ago? Great headlines, supportive quotes from happy backbenchers, but it wasn’t enough. Nothing ever was. Before long the cycle of bitter briefing and agitation for an even more eurosceptic policy was resumed.

The Tory right want to withdraw from Europe, nothing will change that or stop them until it is the policy of their party. David Cameron has just tied himself to the tracks and given the green signal for the eurosceptic express to roll over his leadership.

Today Ed Miliband undoubtedly came off worst. Labour’s disarray in resolving a clear position following the speech suggests a political operation that is far from assured. As a result, when the going gets tough for Labour, doubts on the leader’s grip will surface sooner and be voiced more forcefully.

But, once Labour has flipped on the referendum, the substantive difficulties over Europe will be exclusively with the Tories. The Tory rows over Europe are only just beginning. And as they get worse, more and more of the prime minister’s broader agenda will come under question. The loose threads will be pulled, just as they were for John Major.

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4 Responses to “Today, Ed Miliband was damaged by Cameron’s speech, but the pain is coming for the Tories”

Imagine, just imagine, that Cameron pulled this one off. Imagine that we arrived at a point where the two options on a ballot paper were a renegotiated settlement acceptable to his lot, and outright withdrawal.

That would unite the Left on the EU like nothing since a section of it first inexplicably decided that it was a bulwark against Thatcherism (several years later, Thatcher herself even more oddly seemed to begin to agree with them), as there have always been a few people on the Old Right who have thought of it as a bulwark against Americanism.

For if the only alternative were whatever can be sold to the remains of the Conservative Party, then the only viable option would be whatever else was on offer. Namely, withdrawal.

As would then be advocated in the strongest possible terms by the whole of the Left. It would be the Thatcherites who were campaigning to stay in. Well, of course. It was ever thus.

I dont get this argument, of course voters say they want a referendum, they always say that, whatever the issue. The number of voters saying Europe is very important has been around 5% for months now, for most people it wont be a big issue in 2015. Talking about Europe now will make the Tories look split & inward-looking; why would Labour want to join them ?

What recklessness just to further undermine the vestige of welfare and environmental insurance British workers currently enjoy courtesy of European law; and in support of continuing the City’s favourable position no matter what. Should make all wonder where our rabid “wealth creators” think the global economy is going – evidently not onwards towards work and decent social security for all. That Cameron isn’t selling a positive vision, just doublespeak par excellence, is surely where the centre of this debate should be. And with confidence because an out vote will doubtless be defeated. If not aren’t all current bets off? Perhaps I’m being naive, but why is it so very necessary to indulge the opportunistic regardless of any and all possible harms while the EU rarely makes a mark as a concern among voters. And why is it so very difficult (it would seem) to muster a coherent defence of social and economic solidarity while the population watches on as repeated joint military ventures are pursued.

It’s not the end of the world.The Peoples Pledge will now concentrate on Labour setting out the case for a refendum from a pro-EU perspective as Atul has outlined.It is a position which is recoverable. Ed’s judgement was right on phone hacking where he took a major risk.He can still be right on Europe.